Page 135 of A War of Crowns

“Olivia,” Seraphina commanded, “I want you to lead the questioning. You’re the one with the most knowledge of the witch faith.”

Seraphina had only seen a Truth-Reading once. They were rare in Elmoria. Only the most heinous of crimes ever required a Truth-Reading to uncover the full details of what had taken place.

When she was ten, her father had forced her to watch a man accused of treason being Truth-Read in front of all the court. Father Perero had been a good deal younger then. But the Shepherd had seemed to age before her very eyes when the man accused had resisted the Truth-Reading and died within Father Perero’s arms.

“Duchess Edith,” Seraphina commanded her godmother next without glancing at the older woman. She couldn’t bear to see the pain in the duchess’s eyes again. Not now. Not when she needed to keep her nerve. “Please hold Alyx until the Shepherd has finished.”

Her usuru still lingered about her arm, clinging to her. Alyx had already attacked two men for her that night, and Seraphina had little doubt she would attack another the moment she deemed poor Father Perero to be a threat.

It would be easier for them all if Alyx was restrained for what was to come.

Silence descended over them all as Duchess Edith peeled Alyx away.

The moment her arm was unburdened, Seraphina extended her hand to Father Perero.

The Shepherd bowed his head and offered a quiet prayer before finally, reluctantly, taking her fingers within the clasp of his own.

When their hands locked together, a heat similar to the one that had consumed her when Oracle Tsukiko imparted the vision coursed throughout Seraphina’s entirety. It swallowed her whole with tongues of golden flame that burned away all thought, all sensation beyond that of mereheat.

But where that golden fire had brought with it an excruciating pain the first time she experienced it, there was naught but a warm familiarity this time.

Like coming home to a father’s embrace.

Gold tinged the edges of her vision. Everything shimmered as though with waves of heat, save for Olivia, who seemed to be clouded by an odd, oily sort of shadow.

Even Alyx glittered, as if crushed pearls dusted the usuru’s scales and wings.

The beauty of it all stole Seraphina’s breath away.

She had expected pain. She could still remember the horrifying screams from the man she had once seen Truth-Read. The way he had writhed and thrashed.

But Seraphina simply floated within that golden glow, feeling warm, protected. Safe.

She watched Olivia’s mouth move, but her friend’s voice was slow to float through the air toward her. As if from far away, she finally heard the other woman ask, “What is your name?”

Your name, your name, your name, the question echoed within her mind until her lips moved of their own accord to give her answer. “Seraphina de la Croix.”

“And were you injured tonight during the attempt on your life?”

Seraphina responded without pause again. “Yes.” That answer, just like the last, escaped her throat unbidden. As if Father Perero had plucked the words straight from the very depths of her soul.

“Were you struck with the witchblade during the attack?” Olivia asked next, frowning. The shadow clouding her friend rippled as though within some unseen breeze. “Does your soul now belong to the Lady Below? Are you now the thrall of a witch?”

“One question at a time, Olivia, please,” Duke Percival pleaded from his place standing behind her, keeping her restrained.

Olivia’s unanswered questions echoed on the air. They traced their way through her thoughts. They coursed through her form. Like the very thrum of her heart.

Witchblade, witchblade, witchblade.

More heat shimmered through Seraphina in the wake of those echoes, searching for the answer. Hunting for the truth.

“I don’t know,” she uttered aloud. She hadn’t seen the witchblade. She didn’t know if it had struck her during the fight.

Olivia’s voice immediately returned. “Is your soul still your own?” her friend asked.

Soul, soul, soul, soul.

Somehow, Seraphina knew that was the wrong question to ask.

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